Reference: Dragon
American
Answers, in the English Bible, the Hebrew word signifying a sea-monster, huge serpent, etc. Thus in De 32:33; Jer 51:34; Re 12, it evidently implies a huge serpent; in Isa 27:1; 51:9; Eze 29:3, it may mean the crocodile, or any large sea-monster; while in Job 30:29; La 4:3; Mic 1:8, it seems to refer to some wild animal of the desert, most probably the jackal. The animal known to modern naturalists under the name of dragon, is a harmless species of lizard, found in Asia and Africa.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Their wine [is] the poison of snakes, and [the] deadly poison of horned vipers.
I am a companion for [the] jackals and a companion for {ostriches}.
On that day, Yahweh will punish with his cruel, great and strong sword Leviathan, [the] fleeing serpent, and Leviathan, [the] twisting serpent, and he will kill the sea monster that [is] in the sea.
Awake! Awake; put on strength, O arm of Yahweh! Awake as [in] days of long ago, [the] generations of a long time back! [Are] you not the one who cut Rahab in pieces, [the] one who pierced [the] sea-dragon?
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me [and] sucked me dry; he has made me an empty vessel; he has swallowed me like the sea monster; he has filled his belly with my delicacies; he has rinsed me.
Even the jackal bears the beast and nurses their cubs; [but] the daughter of my people has become ruthless, like ostriches in the wilderness.
Speak, and you must say, 'thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I am against you, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great sea monster, the [one] lying down in the midst of his Nile streams, who says to me, "[It is] my Nile, and I made [it] [for] myself."
On account of this I will lament and wail. I will go about barefoot and naked. I will make a lamentation like the jackals, and a mourning ceremony like the {ostriches}.
Easton
(1.) Heb tannim, plural of tan. The name of some unknown creature inhabiting desert places and ruins (Job 30:29; Ps 44:19; Isa 13:22; 34:13; 43:20; Jer 10:22; Mic 1:8; Mal 1:3); probably, as translated in the Revised Version, the jackal (q.v.).
(2.) Heb tannin. Some great sea monster (Jer 51:34 it may denote the crocodile. In Ge 1:21 (Heb plural tanninim) the Authorized Version renders "whales," and the Revised Version "sea monsters." It is rendered "serpent" in Ex 7:9. It is used figuratively in Ps 74:13; Eze 29:3.
In the New Testament the word "dragon" is found only in Re 12:3-4,7,9,16-17, etc., and is there used metaphorically of "Satan." (See Whale.)
See Verses Found in Dictionary
So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature [that] moves, [with] which the waters swarm, according to their kind, and every bird [with] wings according to its kind. And God saw that [it was] good.
"When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, 'Do a wonder for yourselves,' you will say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and throw it before Pharaoh, and it will become a snake.'"
I am a companion for [the] jackals and a companion for {ostriches}.
But you have crushed us in a place of jackals, and have covered us with deep shadow.
You split open [the] sea by your strength; You broke [the] heads of [the] sea monsters in the waters.
And hyenas will answer in its palaces, and jackals in the pleasure palaces; and its time {is coming soon}, and its days will not be prolonged.
And thorns shall go up her citadel fortress, weeds and thistle plants in her fortresses; and it shall be [the] settlement of jackals, green grass for [the] daughters of an ostrich.
The animals of the field will honor me, jackals and daughters of [the] ostrich, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in [the] desert, to give a drink [to] my chosen people,
Listen, news: Look, [it is] coming, a great roar from [the] land of [the] north, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a lair of jackals.
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me [and] sucked me dry; he has made me an empty vessel; he has swallowed me like the sea monster; he has filled his belly with my delicacies; he has rinsed me.
Speak, and you must say, 'thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I am against you, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great sea monster, the [one] lying down in the midst of his Nile streams, who says to me, "[It is] my Nile, and I made [it] [for] myself."
On account of this I will lament and wail. I will go about barefoot and naked. I will make a lamentation like the jackals, and a mourning ceremony like the {ostriches}.
but Esau I have hated. I have made his mountain ranges a desolation, and [given] his inheritance to the jackals of [the] desert."
And another sign appeared in heaven, and behold, a great fiery red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads [were] seven royal headbands. And his tail swept away a third of the stars from heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, in order that whenever she gave birth to her child he could devour [it].
And there was war in heaven; Michael and his angels {fought against} the dragon, and the dragon and his angels {fought back}.
And the great dragon was thrown down, the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
And the earth came to the aid of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river that the dragon had spouted out of his mouth. And the dragon was angry at the woman, and went away to {fight against} the rest of her children, those who keep the commandments of God and who hold to the testimony about Jesus.
Fausets
Tannin, tan. Tan in Jer 14:6, "dragons" "snuffing up the wind" is translated by Henderson jackals; rather the great boas and python serpents are meant, which raise their body vertically ten or twelve feet high, surveying the neighborhood above the bushes, while with open jaws they drink in the air. They were made types of the deluge and all destructive agencies; hence the dragon temples are placed near water in Asia, Africa, and Britain, e.g. that of Abury in Wiltshire. The ark is often associated with it, as the preserver from the waters. The dragon temples are serpentine in form; dragon standards were used in Egypt and Babylon, and among the widely-scattered Celts.
Apollo's slaying Python is the Greek legend implying the triumph of light over darkness and evil. The tannin are any great monsters, whether of land or sea, trans. Ge 1:21 "great sea monsters." So (La 4:3) "even sea monsters (tannin) draw out the breast," alluding to the mammalia which sometimes visit the Mediterranean, or the halichore cow whale of the Red Sea. Large whales do not often frequent the Mediterranean, which was the sea that the Israelites knew; they apply "sea" to the Nile and Euphrates, and so apply "tannin" to the crocodile, their horror in Egypt, as also to the large serpents which they saw in the desert. "The dragon in the sea," which Jehovah shall punish in the day of Israel's deliverance, is Antichrist, the antitype to Babylon on the Euphrates' waters (Isa 27:1).
In Ps 74:13, "Thou brokest the heads of the dragons in the waters," Egypt's princes and Pharaoh are poetically represented hereby, just as crocodiles are the monarchs of the Nile waters. So (Isa 51:9-10) the crocodile is the emblem of Egypt and its king on coins of Augustus struck after the conquest of Egypt. "A habitation of dragons" expresses utter desolation, as venomous snakes abound in ruins of ancient cities (De 32:33; Jer 49:33; Isa 34:13). In the New Testament it symbolizes Satan the old serpent (Genesis 3), combining gigantic strength with craft, malignity, and venom (Re 12:3). The dragon's color, "red," fiery red, implies that he was a murderer from the beginning.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature [that] moves, [with] which the waters swarm, according to their kind, and every bird [with] wings according to its kind. And God saw that [it was] good.
Their wine [is] the poison of snakes, and [the] deadly poison of horned vipers.
You split open [the] sea by your strength; You broke [the] heads of [the] sea monsters in the waters.
On that day, Yahweh will punish with his cruel, great and strong sword Leviathan, [the] fleeing serpent, and Leviathan, [the] twisting serpent, and he will kill the sea monster that [is] in the sea.
And thorns shall go up her citadel fortress, weeds and thistle plants in her fortresses; and it shall be [the] settlement of jackals, green grass for [the] daughters of an ostrich.
Awake! Awake; put on strength, O arm of Yahweh! Awake as [in] days of long ago, [the] generations of a long time back! [Are] you not the one who cut Rahab in pieces, [the] one who pierced [the] sea-dragon? Are you not the one who dried up [the] sea, [the] waters of [the] great deep, the one who {made} [the] depths of [the] sea a way for those who are redeemed to cross over?
And wild asses stand on [the] barren heights, they gasp [for] breath like the jackals. Their eyes fail because there is no vegetation."
"And Hazor will become as a lair of jackals, a waste forever; no one will live there, and no son of humankind will dwell as an alien in it."
Even the jackal bears the beast and nurses their cubs; [but] the daughter of my people has become ruthless, like ostriches in the wilderness.
And another sign appeared in heaven, and behold, a great fiery red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads [were] seven royal headbands.
Hastings
(1) tann
See Verses Found in Dictionary
So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature [that] moves, [with] which the waters swarm, according to their kind, and every bird [with] wings according to its kind. And God saw that [it was] good.
"When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, 'Do a wonder for yourselves,' you will say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and throw it before Pharaoh, and it will become a snake.'" And Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and they did so, as Yahweh had commanded. And Aaron threw his staff before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a snake. read more. And Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did likewise with their secret arts. Each threw down his staff, and they became snakes, and Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs.
Am I [the] sea, or a sea monster, that you set a guard over me?
I am a companion for [the] jackals and a companion for {ostriches}.
But you have crushed us in a place of jackals, and have covered us with deep shadow.
You split open [the] sea by your strength; You broke [the] heads of [the] sea monsters in the waters.
And hyenas will answer in its palaces, and jackals in the pleasure palaces; and its time {is coming soon}, and its days will not be prolonged.
And thorns shall go up her citadel fortress, weeds and thistle plants in her fortresses; and it shall be [the] settlement of jackals, green grass for [the] daughters of an ostrich.
And the parched ground shall become pool, and [the] thirsty ground springs of water. Her resting place [is] in a settlement of jackals; [the] grass [shall become] like reeds and rushes.
Awake! Awake; put on strength, O arm of Yahweh! Awake as [in] days of long ago, [the] generations of a long time back! [Are] you not the one who cut Rahab in pieces, [the] one who pierced [the] sea-dragon?
Listen, news: Look, [it is] coming, a great roar from [the] land of [the] north, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a lair of jackals.
"And Hazor will become as a lair of jackals, a waste forever; no one will live there, and no son of humankind will dwell as an alien in it."
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me [and] sucked me dry; he has made me an empty vessel; he has swallowed me like the sea monster; he has filled his belly with my delicacies; he has rinsed me.
Speak, and you must say, 'thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I am against you, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great sea monster, the [one] lying down in the midst of his Nile streams, who says to me, "[It is] my Nile, and I made [it] [for] myself."
"Son of man, raise a lament over Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and you must say to him, '[With] a fierce, strong lion among nations you compared yourself, and you [are] like the sea monster in the seas, and you thrash about in your rivers, and you make water turbid with your feet, and you make your rivers muddy.
but Esau I have hated. I have made his mountain ranges a desolation, and [given] his inheritance to the jackals of [the] desert."
And another sign appeared in heaven, and behold, a great fiery red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads [were] seven royal headbands.
Morish
tannin, ??????. It may signify any great serpent or sea monster, symbolical of a huge destructive creature. Nations doomed to destruction and desolation, including Jerusalem, are said to become habitations of dragons. Isa 34:13; 35:7; Jer 9:11; 10:22; 51:37. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is called the great dragon. Eze 29:3. As one of God's creatures the dragon is called upon to praise Jehovah. Ps 148:7. In the N.T. the dragon is a type of Satan and those energised by him. In Re 12:3 the "great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns," is symbolical of Satan's power in the form of the Roman empire: it endeavoured, in the person of Herod, to destroy Christ when born. In Re 13:2,4 it is Satan who gives the resuscitated Roman empire in a future day its throne and great authority. In Re 13:11 the Antichrist, who has two horns like a lamb, speaks as a dragon. In Re 16:13 it is Satan, and in Re 20:2 he is described as "that old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan."
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Praise Yahweh from the earth-- great sea creatures and all deeps,
And thorns shall go up her citadel fortress, weeds and thistle plants in her fortresses; and it shall be [the] settlement of jackals, green grass for [the] daughters of an ostrich.
And the parched ground shall become pool, and [the] thirsty ground springs of water. Her resting place [is] in a settlement of jackals; [the] grass [shall become] like reeds and rushes.
And I will make Jerusalem as heaps [of ruins], a lair of jackals, and the towns of Judah I will make a desolation, {without inhabitants}.
Listen, news: Look, [it is] coming, a great roar from [the] land of [the] north, to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a lair of jackals.
And Babylon will become as a heap of stones, a lair of jackals, [an object of] horror, and [an object of] hissing, {without} inhabitants.
Speak, and you must say, 'thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I am against you, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great sea monster, the [one] lying down in the midst of his Nile streams, who says to me, "[It is] my Nile, and I made [it] [for] myself."
And another sign appeared in heaven, and behold, a great fiery red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads [were] seven royal headbands.
And the beast that I saw was similar to a leopard, and its feet [were] like a bear's, and its mouth [was] like the mouth of a lion, and the dragon gave it his power and his throne and great authority.
And they worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who [is] like the beast, and who is able to make war with him?
And I saw another beast coming up from the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he was speaking like a dragon.
And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet three unclean spirits like frogs.
And he seized the dragon--the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan--and bound him [for] a thousand years,
Smith
Dragon.
The translators of the Authorized Version, apparently following the Vulgate, have rendered by the same word "dragon" the two Hebrew words tan and tannin, which appear to be quite distinct in meaning.
1. The former is used, always in the plural, in
Job 30:29; Ps 44:19; Isa 34:13; 43:20; Jer 9:11
It is always applied to some creatures inhabiting the desert, and we should conclude from this that it refers rather to some wild beast than to a serpent. The syriac renders it by a word which, according to Pococke, means a "jackal."
2. The word tannin seems to refer to any great monster, whether of the land or the sea, being indeed more usually applied to some kind of serpent or reptile, but not exclusively restricted to that sense.
Ex 7:9-10,12; De 32:33; Ps 91:13
In the New Testament it is found only in the Apocalypse,
etc., as applied metaphorically to "the old serpent, called the devil, and Satan."
See Verses Found in Dictionary
"When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, 'Do a wonder for yourselves,' you will say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and throw it before Pharaoh, and it will become a snake.'" And Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and they did so, as Yahweh had commanded. And Aaron threw his staff before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a snake.
Each threw down his staff, and they became snakes, and Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs.
Their wine [is] the poison of snakes, and [the] deadly poison of horned vipers.
I am a companion for [the] jackals and a companion for {ostriches}.
But you have crushed us in a place of jackals, and have covered us with deep shadow.
You will tread on lion and viper; you will trample young lion and serpent.
And thorns shall go up her citadel fortress, weeds and thistle plants in her fortresses; and it shall be [the] settlement of jackals, green grass for [the] daughters of an ostrich.
The animals of the field will honor me, jackals and daughters of [the] ostrich, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in [the] desert, to give a drink [to] my chosen people,
And I will make Jerusalem as heaps [of ruins], a lair of jackals, and the towns of Judah I will make a desolation, {without inhabitants}.
And another sign appeared in heaven, and behold, a great fiery red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads [were] seven royal headbands. And his tail swept away a third of the stars from heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, in order that whenever she gave birth to her child he could devour [it].
And there was war in heaven; Michael and his angels {fought against} the dragon, and the dragon and his angels {fought back}.
And the great dragon was thrown down, the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
And the earth came to the aid of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river that the dragon had spouted out of his mouth. And the dragon was angry at the woman, and went away to {fight against} the rest of her children, those who keep the commandments of God and who hold to the testimony about Jesus.
Watsons
DRAGON. This word is frequently to be met with in our English translation of the Bible. It answers generally to the Hebrew ??, ????, ????; and these words are variously rendered dragons, serpents, sea- monsters, and whales. The Rev. James Hurdis, in a dissertation relative to this subject, observes, that the word translated "whales," in Ge 1:21, occurs twenty-seven times in Scripture; and he attempts, with much ingenuity, to prove that it every where signifies the crocodile. That it sometimes has this meaning, he thinks is clear from Eze 29:3: "Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers." For, to what could a king of Egypt be more properly compared than the crocodile? The same argument he draws from Isa 51:9: "Art thou not he that hath cut Rahab, [Egypt,] and wounded the dragon?" Among the ancients the crocodile was the symbol of Egypt, and appears so on Roman coins. Some however have thought the hippopotamus intended; others, one of the larger species of serpents.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature [that] moves, [with] which the waters swarm, according to their kind, and every bird [with] wings according to its kind. And God saw that [it was] good.
Awake! Awake; put on strength, O arm of Yahweh! Awake as [in] days of long ago, [the] generations of a long time back! [Are] you not the one who cut Rahab in pieces, [the] one who pierced [the] sea-dragon?
Speak, and you must say, 'thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I am against you, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great sea monster, the [one] lying down in the midst of his Nile streams, who says to me, "[It is] my Nile, and I made [it] [for] myself."